Newsletter of the Society for Technical Communication, San Francisco Chapter
April/May 2005
| Newsletter of the Society for Technical Communication, San Francisco Chapter April/May 2005 |
At the February meeting of the San Francisco Chapter STC, Kathy Stanley provided an overview of ISO certification and explained how the skills of technical communicators are directly transferrable to ISO auditing. In doing so, Stanley drew upon 10 years of experience with the ISO process, both as an auditor and as an audit subject.
The ISO is the International Standards Organization, which has its headquarters in Switzerland. This organization defines standards for many industries, such as airlines, rubber, pulp, mines, electronics manufacturing, paints, and computer software. Stanley's talk focused on ISO 9000, which is the set of standards for computer software.
Documenting procedures is a part of ISO certification, but there is much more than writing and maintaining procedures. The certification process focuses on constant improvement and inclusion of customer requirements in product design.
ISO certification means that:
Why does a company go through the work in becoming ISO certified? It is important for marketing, especially in international sales. In the European Union and Japan, many companies do business only with ISO certified companies. In the USA, government agencies may require their suppliers to be ISO certified. Even when ISO certification is not required, it can give a certified company a leg up over its non-certified competitors.
The certification process requires a great deal of time and effort. Therefore, it should have buy-in from the highest level of management. A company has an ISO team to ensure that the company's processes are ISO-compliant. At a large company, the ISO team includes a lead auditor, a representative for each division, and a quality team in each division. At a small company, one person may handle the entire process.
Each company has its own way of implementing ISO standards. The ISO standards are general principles. Each company's internal ISO auditor is trained in interpreting those standards and applying them to specific cases. Each company creates its own detailed rules and procedures. The specifics vary from company to company. For example, an audience member mentioned that a company had a rule that all documentation be double-spaced. There is no such specific requirement in ISO standards, but that rule was one company's interpretation of how to create ISO-compliant documentation.
To get and maintain certification, a company has its procedures reviewed by an ISO-certified external auditor. There are two audits: the initial audit and an annual surveillance audit. The initial audit is the most difficult one to pass. A company must be able to consistently document the origin of customer requests, keep track of how they are acted upon, and show the path from the request to the action taken. The annual surveillance audit often is a review of weak areas. Few companies fail these audits.
Once a company is certified, ISO plays a continuing role of a company. These roles include the following:
Stanley identified the four cornerstones for an audit, which are very similar to the process for designing and creating a manual or a help system:
The kinds of writing that an auditor does are similar to those for technical communicators:
In addition, auditors give an annual presentation to top management. Stanley mentioned that it's good to know your audience. You should know how to make this report short and sweet if all management wants to know is that the ISO program is in place and that it's working.
Stanley pointed out that many technical communicators already possess the interviewing skills needed for an auditor:
Stanley pointed out some things that an ISO auditor should be prepared for when conducting interviews:
So you want to be an ISO auditor? Stanley suggested a couple of steps for making this career change. The first step is to go to internal auditor school. You need some ISO experience before taking this class. The second step is to attend lead auditor school after you have gotten some auditing experience. Both courses last four days and cost about $1,500. Employers usually pay for these courses.
To learn more about ISO, check out these web sites:
For information about training, check out these web sites:
Marc Smircich is a technical communicator with over 15 years of experience documenting human resources, payroll, and financial applications. He is also the treasurer and newsletter editor for the San Francisco Chapter STC.
Copyright © 2005 by the Society for Technical Communication, San Francisco Chapter (www.stc-sf.org). This article may be reprinted in another STC publication under the provisions of the chapter's copyright policy.